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Thoughts on the Day

  • It is a rather foolish thing to talk to your daughter about doing foolish things and then fall out of a tree while clearing away dead wood.
    • No worries.  I caught myself with my sternum and my knee.
  • Wives get really inquisitive when you walk around holding your chest.
    • Seriously, honey, it’s just a bruise.
  • It is amazing how much mirth my loving wife can find in my method of injury.
  • My youngest son has been walking around, speaking with an upper class British accent for two days.  I’m not sure if it’s cute or annoying.
  • There are few things better than leftovers from a cookout.
  • Apparently Google Earth drove down my street today.  Now, everyone on the planet will know that I need to mow my lawn.

Movie Quotes – Day 246

I don’t know if HAL is homicidal, suicidal, neurotic, psychotic, or just plain broken. — 2010

Technology is either a wonderful blessing or a punishment from on high.  A tiny hand-held computer with a radio and camera attached to it is either a super convenient way to share photographs of yourself and your adventures with friends, or a really easy way to have your breasticles splashed across the Internet for all to see. (No, I haven’t looked.  When the young starlets start to look more and more like your teenage daughter, you stop looking.)

A car with more computing power than a space shuttle makes driving easier, more efficient, and almost a joy to drive.  Or, it can break your pocketbook and destroy your mind as you try to troubleshoot what should be a simple problem.  Did I ever mention how much I hate Chrysler engineers?  They took the simple thing we used to call a headlight switch and replaced it with a circuit board that cost $80 to replace.

No matter what, you have to remember that a computer is not alive, has no feelings, and really isn’t out to get you.  Of course, the counter argument is that they always seem to break or have a seizure when you’re trying to meet a deadline, get some sleep, or don’t have the money to fix or replace them.

Growing Up Under My Roof

This is sort of PSA for young people.

The following are your rights while living under my roof:

  1. You have the right to know that you are loved.  This may mean that you get a hug after an ass chewing.
  2. You have the right to be safe in my home and to expect me to protect you.  This may mean that on occasion you will be growled at for doing things that are unsafe.
  3. You have the right to clean, serviceable clothing.  This may require some work on your part once you achieve a certain age.
  4. You have the right to safe, nutritious food.  This will include the occasional treat.  Emphasis on occasional.
  5. You have the right to an education, both in and out of school.
  6. You have the right to expect that I will provide for your healthcare, within reason.
  7. You have the right to clean your body on at least a daily basis.  But please remember that we only have one bathroom in the house.
  8. You have the right to communicate with your loved ones that do not live in my home.  Friends and schoolmates do not count, and non-emergency phone calls from non-family after 9 PM may invoke the nuclear option.

The following things are not rights while living under my roof:

  • Entertainment at the cost of the time, energy, and funds of other members of the household.  Learn to entertain yourself.
  • Living an easy life.  You will have daily, weekly, and on-demand chores.  I may or may not pay you for certain things, depending on whether they go above and beyond.
  • Transportation for non-educational or non-healthcare related activities.  I will, however, provide you with Leather Personnel Carriers so that you may walk anywhere you wish to go.
  • A paying job.  Schoolwork and your chores come first.
  • Cell phones, laptops, tablets, television, and music played at 11 on the volume dial.  I don’t care what year this is, and you will continue to draw breath if these things are not part of your daily life.

Here are some extraneous rules:

  • No smoking, no drinking, no other intoxicants, no overnight guests from your dating pool.  Also, no new holes in your body or permanent marks upon your skin.
  • Your hair will be clean, neat, and the same color it was when it came out of your scalp.
  • You will not go to school or out in public looking like Joe Shit the Rag Man.
  • “It’s not fair.” or “I’m frustrated” mean nothing to me.
  • My word and the word of Irish Woman is the final word on any subject under our roof.  If one of us tells you to do something, do it.  Complain afterward if you must, but doing as you’re told first will help you in your quest to prevent further ‘injustice’.
    • Seriously, when one of us tells you to jump, you better say “How high?” after you’re a foot in the air.
  • You are not an adult until you live independent from any outside support.  Until such time, you will be treated at an age appropriate level, but not as an adult.
  • Don’t try to bribe me, either with affection or especially good behavior.  If you need something, tell me about it and why it’s important.  If you want something, ask for it and accept my decision.
  • I reserve the right to change rules as I see fit.  You will be informed of these changes, but their enforcement will begin immediately after I feel you’ve had enough time to conform to them.
  • There are two reasons for failure:  lack of talent and lack of effort.  If you fail because, no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t do something, I will accept that and work with you to either develop your talents or find something more suited to you.  If you fail because you didn’t put forth the effort, may God have mercy on your soul.
    • In relation to this, when you need help, ask for it.  Two days before report cards come out is not the day to tell me that a certain class is kicking your ass.
  • You should never fear me, but you should fear my displeasure.

Musings

  • I’m not known for my people skills, but when I offer to take more than my fair share of a workload, I get a little grumpy when someone tells me I’m making things difficult for others.
  • When the high point of your day is a surprise random drug screening at work, that might just be a sign that you should have pulled the covers over your head and gone back to sleep.
  • It’s a hard lesson for a young woman, but making Girlie Bear pay to replace the tablet computer she destroyed after owning it for THREE DAYS will hopefully teach her to take better care of her things.
  • Whoever taught Boo to sing songs from “Frozen”, I am going to hunt you down and stake you out for the wombats to nibble upon.
  • If you’re such a troll that you make a good woman, who is as tough as nails and as kind as they come, decide that her hobby just isn’t worth the effort anymore, then you deserve whatever fate befalls you.
  • If you have to be told to not to use company computers and networks to seek out leaked photographs of young, possibly under-age, starlets, then maybe you shouldn’t be allowed to use company computers and networks at all.
  • If you want to debate whether or not Americans have the right to be outraged when they see two of their fellow citizens beheaded on the Internet, then don’t come crying to me in indignation when someone finally finds something that you value to violate.
  • Phase II of the back yard hold out structure, also known as the tree/play house, is complete.  The frame is up, and all I need to do now is make more money so I can put the sides and roof on.
  • It’s good to work with people who understand that suggestions are just suggestions, and who don’t get emotional when you, after thoughtful consideration, decide to do something different.

Movie Quotes – Day 245

It’s what people know about themselves inside that makes ’em afraid. — High Plains Drifter

In most cases, you create your own boogiemen.  The fear of the unknown is nothing compared with the fear of what you use to fill that unknown.  When you don’t know the intentions of an opponent, you fill them with the worst of your intentions.  Perhaps that’s why so many ‘non-violent’ people ascribe the most heinous of depictions to the rest of us, or perhaps it’s why they sometimes suggest the most violent ways to deal with us.

Repost – A Grim Anniversary

Today is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack at Beslan.  Right now, relations with Russia aren’t very good, but I think we should pause to remember that the fanatics that want to kill us also lash out at other great powers.

 

————-

Here in the U.S., we are preparing for the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.  But we are not alone in remembering savagery against innocents this week.  In Russia, families are remembering the hundreds who died at Beslan.

C.J. Chivers over at Esquire did an excellent write-up of the attack back in 2006.  It goes beyond the dry facts to show the small, heroic acts by ordinary people that saved lives.  Every person who thinks about personal security and the lengths that barbarians will go to in order to incite terror should read it.

As a parent, I cannot imagine the shock and anguish of knowing that no matter what you did, your children were probably going to die.  I also dread the thought that our schools are just as wide open and unprotected.

For my friends in Russia, I remember the innocents of Beslan.  They were not soldiers, they were not politicians, they were school-children, parents, and teachers.  I hope that your leaders have learned from the experience, and I hope that my leaders at least think about the possibility of something similar happening here.

Today’s Earworm

Movie Quotes – Day 244

I shall never understand the weird process by which a body with a voice suddenly fancies itself as a mind. — All About Eve

Just because you can express an opinion doesn’t mean that you will be taken seriously.  In order to be more than background noise, you must know what you’re talking about.  Learn about your subject, respect the informed opinions of others, and articulate your knowledge and experience in a way that others can understand and respect.

Musings

  • Formula for an exciting evening – Take two six-year-old boys, give them pizza, ice cream, and popcorn, season with a Siamese cat and a Labrador Retriever, shake well, and let sleep out in the living room.
  • I listened to the audiobook of Larry Correia’s Hard Magic this weekend.  Now everything I read sounds like Bronson Pinchot in my head.
  • The stereo at the pool was playing the Miami Vice theme song this morning.  I happened to be wearing a brightly colored tee-shirt and a two-day beard.  I’m sorry to report that Moonshine did not turn into an alligator while we were away.
  • Note to self – When reading political news stories, which is just about all news stories these days, just read the story and do not read the comments.
    • The stupid runs deep on both sides of the aisle this year.
  • I’m drawing the line at not buying gummy eyeballs for Halloween.
  • By the way, if you makecorndogs in the oven as a treat, and leave about seven of them on the stove, you must realize thatcorndogs are like crack to Labrador Retrievers.
    • Of course, I got the “Who, me?  I don’t know what you’re talking about!” look, but he’ll crack under interrogation.
  • Started cleaning out the garden beds tonight.  The cucumbers are done, and the tomatoes aren’t far behind.  We should know if the potato box worked in about three weeks.
    • When pulling a weed out of your pepper patch, make sure you’re not grasping a pepper plant that’s covered in almost mature chilis.

Today’s Earworm